If You Feel
by Suki-Itami
Summary: A two or three chapter story following some of the Gennin Squads if they lost their Sensei and/or a teammate. Inspired by "Riot" by Three Days Grace.


Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura sat in a small circle in front of the stone monument. Anybody walking by would think they were waiting for Kakashi, as they always did around this time of day, but they weren't. They were there to mourn for their Sensei, who died fighting Itachi Uchiha a few months ago.

They dressed normally, so as to not draw attention to themselves walking through the streets of Konoha. Nobody understood why Kakashi had gone into battle without at least one of them as backup; he knew how strong Itachi Uchiha was.

Sasuke felt as if it was his fault for not stopping Itachi himself instead of his Sensei losing his life trying to do what Sasuke had hoped to achieve. It was **his** duty not his Sensei's.

Sakura felt as if it was her fault for not realizing why Kakashi had been so preoccupied shortly before his death. She, after all, had the keenest eyes and the sharpest mind.

Naruto felt as if it was his fault for not suggesting to Kakashi that he took some form of backup with him to the battlefield. He would've protected his Sensei with his life if necessary.

Because they all felt like it was their own fault caused them to isolate themselves from the other two. Each thought that the other two would be fine as a two-man team without them. They hadn't seen each other since Kakashi's small funeral procession. It hadn't been big so not many people knew of Kakashi's death; **nobody** knew that Team 7 ceased communication. But that was two months ago. That's too long for them not to have talked to each other.

It was actually Sasuke's idea for them to meet here. He had called Naruto and Sakura and asked them if they wanted to meet at the stone monument for a short meeting. They had been there for one hour and none of them had said so much as one word.

Sakura, who had been looking at the ground, looked up at the boys. "So…why are we here?"

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, not really sure why they were there either.

Sasuke looked from Naruto to Sakura and looked at the ground, not able to look at either one of them. "I quit Team Seven."

Naruto and Sakura seemed taken off guard at Sasuke's sudden decision.

"B-But Sasuke, you can't." Sakura said, not able to believe Sasuke's words.

Sasuke couldn't lift his head after he heard Sakura's words. "I'm sorry Sakura, but you and Naruto—"

"Me and Naruto?" Sakura seemed confused. "Sasuke, I was concerned for Naruto, if you quit it would just be Naruto."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, lifting his head, now he was confused.

"Yeah Sakura, what are you talking about?" Naruto was as confused as Sasuke. "If Sasuke quits, you'd be all alone."

"No I wouldn't! You would be all alone!" Sakura nearly yelled.

Naruto shook his head violently. "Nuh-uh!"

"Neither of you would be alone!" Sasuke said. "It'd be just the two of you, but you would have each other so you'd be just fine."

"What are you talking about Sasuke?" Sakura asked, getting very angry now. "I quit the Team two months ago!"

"You did?" Naruto asked. "So did I!"

Sasuke seemed at loss for words that his own teammates had been so weak as to quit the Team as soon as their Sensei died.

"Sasuke, when did you decide to quit?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Recently, I suppose."

"You suppose?" Naruto was confused. "It's a simple question, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed and stood up. "Our Sensei taught us to never give up, even if it's hopeless. Don't give in." Sasuke paused to look over at the stone monument and then back at his former teammates. "But that if we have to give up, not right away. Give it some thought and fight until the end, if possible."

Sakura stood up and walked over to Sasuke. "Sasuke, I don't understand what you're saying."

Sasuke chuckled to himself and turned back to the stone monument. "You quit as soon as he died, that's weak."

Naruto stood up quickly, taking that as a challenge.

Sasuke sensed Naruto stand up behind him. "Calm down Naruto, I was just speaking a fact."

Naruto glared at the back of Sasuke's head for a moment, then turned around to walk off.

"Wait! Naruto!" Sakura shouted after him.

Naruto acted as if he didn't even hear Sakura and kept walking away.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and grabbed the front of his shirt, forcing him to face her. "Sasuke, I can't believe you would say that!" Sakura said, glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged. "I wasn't just talking about Naruto, you know."

Sakura let go of his shirt, shaking with rage. "I can't believe you've changed this much since Kakashi-Sensei's death." Sakura looked at the ground so Sasuke didn't see the tears coming from her eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

Sasuke turned back to the stone monument. "Sorry Sakura, I just feel as if I need to go it alone for a while."

"That's not what I meant!" Sakura shouted, still looking at the ground. "What happened to the Sasuke I know?!"

Sasuke didn't even glance at Sakura as he said, "He left long ago."

Sakura turned away from Sasuke and ran away from him, tears streaming down her face.

Sasuke continued looking at the stone monument. He felt like crap now, but didn't really care. He had, so he thought, succeeded in breaking up Team 7.

…

Sakura ran into her house, tears still running down her face. Nobody was home but Sakura still ran straight into her room and cried into her pillow. There was no way she could accept what Sasuke had become, he wasn't the same Sasuke she and Naruto had become friends with.

Sakura started thinking about when they had first became Team 7, all that Kakashi had told them about being a team and working together. There was no room for that anymore; Team 7 was no more. Team 7 broke up because there was no other Jonnin in Konoha that could replace their Sensei, they all knew that and that's probably why they all decided to quit the team.

Shortly before Kakashi's death, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had become really good friends, and Sakura believed that she was on the verge of becoming more than friends with Sasuke. Now, that would never happen because Sasuke had to be a jerk about Naruto and Sakura's quitting Team 7 right off.

Sakura had never believed that anybody could be affected so much like how they had been when Kakashi died. Sakura hadn't talked to either Naruto or Sasuke since Kakashi's death and their first meeting since hadn't gone well at all, in fact, Sakura had decided she wasn't going to talk to Sasuke anymore.

Sakura sat up and wiped away the tears from her eyes. Her bed was across the room from her desk; Sakura knew what was in the drawer of that desk, but she felt like she was being stupid for even **thinking** about that again. But, regardless, Sakura looked over at the desk drawer and walked over it. She pulled open the drawer and rummaged through her stuff until she found what she was looking for; a kunai knife stained with blood.

At first she just held the kunai knife in her hands, staring at it, her hands shaking a little bit just thinking about what she had been doing to herself for the past month. It was true that she still wore her short-sleeved red dress thing with her black boy shorts underneath and that there were **no** cuts on her arms whatsoever…but that's not where she was cutting.

Sakura rolled up pant legs of her shorts, revealing straight cuts going up and down her legs. She sat down on the edge of her bed and put the blood-stained kunai knife to her skin on her left leg where there were no cuts and sliced her skin open. The cut wasn't deep, but it still bled. Sakura winced a little as the wound was exposed to the open air. She reached to her bedside table and pulled some band-aids out of the drawer. She quickly put one on and wiped away the excess blood from her leg using her hand. Sakura rolled down her pant legs and put the kunai knife back in the drawer, carefully hidden.

Sakura felt sick after that, as she normally did after she cut herself. She had once told herself that she would **never** cut herself, but that didn't work out in the end. After Kakashi died, she had the urge to cut more and more everyday. A month after Kakashi's death she started cutting herself on her legs, not wanting to draw attention to herself by cutting herself on her arms.

Sakura ran to the bathroom and washed the blood off of her hands. Then she leaned over the sink and puked, as she would occasionally. She always felt sick after she cut, but only every now and again would she actually get sick.

She looked at herself in the mirror; she looked tired, she knew it wasn't a good thing. Someone would notice it any day now and that wouldn't be good for her; Sakura would be caught and then sent away from Konoha to some reform center.

Sakura shook her head, her pink hair flying around her head. _Why should I be so worried?! Nobody's going to find out… Right?_

…

Naruto walked into his apartment and shut and locked the door behind him. He had already been mad at Sasuke for something completely unrelated but this had just completed the anger building up inside of him.

Naruto knocked the picture he had of his team off of the side table next to his small couch; the glass in the frame broke as soon as it hit the ground. The sound of breaking glass made Naruto remember why he was already angry with Sasuke, for some reason.

…

_Naruto and Sasuke were the only people sitting inside of Ichiraku Ramen, both eating their share of a large bowl of ramen. Naruto had ordered it for them both. Naruto and Sasuke both grabbed the same piece of ramen and continued to eat at it without noticing. They kept eating it until their noses touched, then they stopped and looked at each other._

_Sasuke bit off some of the ramen and let Naruto eat the rest of the piece. Naruto ate the rest of it without saying anything. It was the one-month anniversary of Kakashi's death and they were honoring him by eating a large bowl of ramen. Neither of them had even thought about inviting Sakura._

_Sasuke waited until Mr. Ichiraku, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, was gone then put his arm around Naruto's shoulders in an affectionate way._

_Naruto and Sasuke were facing each other and they gazed deep into each other's eyes, they had been keeping it a secret from each other far too long._

_Sasuke pulled Naruto close to him in order to hug him in a boyfriendish way. Sasuke's arms were wrapped around Naruto's shoulders, while Naruto's arms were wrapped around Sasuke's waist._

_Their feeling communicated through their actions in that very moment; their love for the other was known immediately. Naruto let his head rest in Sasuke's chest as Sasuke let his head rest in Naruto's hair, he took in the smell of the cheap shampoo that Naruto had no other choice but to buy, but that didn't concern him, to Sasuke it smelled good because it was coming from Naruto._

_It was true that Sasuke and Naruto would be the cutest boys to date each other in Konoha, but they chose to keep it a secret…even from Sakura._

_A few weeks after the Ichiraku Ramen thing, Naruto found Sasuke leaning against a tree near the academy and approached him._

"_Sasuke!" Naruto said, smiling as he walked up to Sasuke._

_Sasuke looked at Naruto then looked the other way as if he had no idea why Naruto was so happy._

_Naruto continued to smile as he said, "I know we're keeping this a secret but I have to know if you want a kiss sometime."_

_Sasuke glared at Naruto. "You idiot!"_

_Naruto looked hurt as Sasuke said that to him, the smile disappeared from his face._

"_I don't like you, I never did!" Sasuke said as he looked back at the academy. "We were barely friends."_

_Naruto felt tears welling up in his eyes; Sasuke had manipulated him then tossed him aside as soon as Naruto's feelings started to blossom._

"_You don't mean that." Naruto said, trying not to let Sasuke see how much he was hurt._

"_I do, Naruto." Sasuke said, not looking at Naruto for even a second. Not a trace of remorse or regret was in his voice._

_Naruto ran off to his apartment, tears streaming down his face from the hurt Sasuke had caused him. But Sasuke was just one guy; Naruto didn't believe Sasuke would ever do that to him. Sasuke may have been just one guy, but he had hurt Naruto just as Sasuke knew his feelings._

…

Naruto sat down on the edge of his bed and stared out of the window, looking at the street with all of the people of Konoha who went on with their daily lives. People who went on loving the people whom they would forever be with, no matter what hurt or pain they caused. Naruto rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands.

It had nearly been a month but he couldn't let go of what Sasuke had said to him so easily. After all, it had been Sasuke who made a move on Naruto, so Naruto blamed Sasuke. But he also partially blamed himself for allowing himself to be caught in Sasuke's trap and let his feelings be played with like that. It hurt Naruto so much to see Sasuke and then Sasuke continued with the insults about him, pretty much picking up where he left off from last month.

Naruto laid down on his back and stared up at the ceiling. _How could I let myself be so weak and let myself succumb to that asshole?! Oh well…Who cares?!_ Naruto rolled onto his side and stared at the broken picture frame on the ground outside of his door. _…I care…because…I love him._

…

Sasuke walked into the gate to the Uchiha estate grounds. There was an eerie silence over the grounds, ever since the massacre, there always was. It was like the grounds were missing something, and Sasuke knew what it was: people.

Sasuke walked into the main house, his house, and sat down on a dark blue couch that had been there since before the massacre. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about ways he could find someone to help him rebuild the Uchiha clan. He knew that he loved Naruto, and nobody else, but he needed to rebuild his clan and Naruto couldn't help him with that.

Sasuke sat there, regretting everything he said to Naruto, not a word of what he said to Sakura he regretted. He knew what Sakura thought and felt for him, it was difficult **not** to see, but he didn't want to marry Sakura, have a family with her, and then also be with Naruto in secret. Sasuke loved Naruto with all of his heart and it hurt him so much to have to tell Naruto that he never even liked him, but he had to if he wanted to rebuild his clan.

Fresh tears rolled down Sasuke's face as he thought of all the things he had said to Naruto. He wanted Naruto to be his more than anything right now, but, after what he had said, there was no way Naruto would take Sasuke back. Sasuke said a lot to his teammates, now former, that he regretted. No, his teammates weren't weak…they were strong, stronger than him. It was true that he wasn't referring to just Naruto when he was talking to his "friends", but neither was he talking about just Sakura and Naruto either…he was also referring to himself, he was weak. Sasuke was weaker than both of them, he was going to **die** from the agony of all that has happened.

Sasuke stood up, the tears still rolling down his face, and walked into his kitchen so he could die. He opened the first drawer in the kitchen to make sure it was still there, it was, and he pulled it out of the drawer. It was a large butchers knife, one that is used to cut into large animals to be used for food. The blade gleamed off of the afternoon light that poured into the kitchen from the windows.

Sasuke grabbed the black grip of the knife with his right hand and thrust it into his left wrist, almost going all the way through his arm. He screamed in pain as he the knife went through his skin and into his wrist.

…

Naruto and Sakura were at the door of the main building of the Uchiha estate, they both had explained to each other the reasons they were there. A summarized version would be that they needed to speak to Sasuke for their own reasons.

Naruto was about to knock on the door when a scream of pain came from inside. Naruto and Sakura exchanged worried glances and tried to open the door, it was locked.

Sakura ran around the house and found the kitchen windows, but they were too high up for her to see into. "Naruto!"

Naruto ran to where Sakura was standing and jumped up to the window ledge with her to see inside of the house. Sasuke was dragging the butcher's knife up his arm slowly; he was barely even past his wrist.

Naruto punched the windows as hard as he could, but they didn't even crack. "Dammit!"

Then, without even a second thought, Sakura punched the windows and they shattered.

Glass flew everywhere as the windows were broken. Sasuke just turned his back and continued what he was doing, not even thinking of whom it might be.

Naruto was the first one inside the kitchen, he landing on his feet as he jumped inside. "Sasuke, stop!"

Sasuke turned around at the sound of Naruto's voice; the knife was almost to his elbow. Blood pooled where Sasuke stood. "Naruto..."

Sakura jumped in next. "Sasuke, please don't!"

"Sakura…" Sasuke said, shocked to see them there. "What are you doing here?"

Naruto ran up to Sasuke and grabbed the arm that didn't have the knife in it. "Sasuke, don't do this. Please, don't leave us."

Sakura ran behind Naruto to where the two boys were standing and nodded. "Listen to Naruto! You can't do this!"

Sasuke wanted to pull away from Naruto's grip but couldn't, the tears from earlier had dried up now replaced by tears of regret for thinking of death. "Naruto, Sakura…I'm sorry for what I said, what I've done."

Naruto grabbed the handle of the knife and Sasuke's hand with his other hand. "Sasuke, don't do this. Please don't, we wouldn't know what to do without you."

Sakura nodded again.

Sasuke looked from Sakura to Naruto a few times before looking at the ground. "Okay, just help me get this knife out of my arm."

Naruto, already having grip of the knife, helped Sasuke slowly take it out of Sasuke's arm. Sakura held Sasuke's arm in place and wrapped his arm in bandages when the boys got the knife out of Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke sat down in a nearby chair to regain his strength from the blood loss. Sakura grabbed a mop and started to clean up the blood from the floor.

Naruto sat down in a chair across from Sasuke and took Sasuke's right hand. "Sasuke, why would you do this?"

Sasuke didn't answer for a minute or two but said, "I need to rebuild the clan, but I don't…I don't want to."

"But why?" Naruto asked, confused. "You could get any girl in Konoha to be your wife, you could have your clan rebuilt in no time at all."

"Because, I…I…I…I love you, Naruto." Sasuke said, looking at Naruto straight in the eyes. "But, why would you still love me after what I said to you?"

Sakura had stopped when she heard this and was now staring at the boys in shock.

Naruto blushed and smiled. "Sasuke, my feelings never changed, I **always** loved you."

"You forgive me?" Sasuke asked, shocked.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, I have forgiven you. You **are** my boyfriend."

Sakura's mouth now hung open in major shock and trauma. She couldn't believe what she just heard. Naruto and Sasuke loving each other was very traumatic for her. She just walked out of the room so she didn't have to see anything "weird" – in her words – go on between Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto and Sasuke continued stared into each other's eyes, literally melting into the others gaze. Sasuke slowly inched closer to the hesitant Naruto. Naruto was mesmerized by his new boyfriend's presence and didn't seem to notice. Their lips met in a sweet, tender embrace. The contact was a shock to both at first, but both knew that it felt right, it was comforting. Sasuke broke away and backed up about an inch to see Naruto's reaction. He saw a dazed look upon his boyfriends face. Noting this, he dove for another softer, quicker kiss. This time, Naruto kissed Sasuke back as Sasuke kissed him.

Naruto and Sasuke broke apart not too long after they had kissed the second time. Naruto hugged Sasuke, his arms around Sasuke's upper body as he rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke hugged Naruto back with his good arm and rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto smiled and hugged Sasuke tighter. Sasuke didn't hug Naruto any tighter but still got his message across.

Sakura had actually watched the whole thing from the other side of the wall that connected the living room and the kitchen; she didn't think it was weird at all. In fact, Sakura was wishing that they would kiss again.

A small portion of the kitchen glowed brightly. Team 7 looked over at the glow and saw the ghost of their deceased Sensei looking at the three of them. Kakashi was smiling but they could all tell that he had been creeped out by his former students behavior.

Sakura walked into the kitchen. "Kakashi-Sensei…?"

Kakashi looked over at Sakura and said, "Well, it's good to know that you're getting along again. Though, I must say, I wasn't expecting what just happened at all."

Naruto and Sasuke still had their arms wrapped around each other.

Sakura looked back at Naruto and Sasuke and just smiled. "Well, if it's how they feel for each other, I suppose it's fine."

Kakashi laughed. "Well, I have to go now. Bye." The light grew ten times as brighter and Kakashi disappeared into it.

Sakura looked from where Kakashi had been standing to Naruto and Sasuke and giggled. "I don't mind, I think you guys make a cute couple."

Naruto and Sasuke smiled at her, thanking her for accepting it.

After that day Sakura stopped cutting herself and told the Hokage about it, she wasn't seen in Konoha for a year. While Sakura was gone Naruto and Sasuke had grown very close as they kept letting the other into their life more and more. Most of Konoha knew of Naruto and Sasuke going out but didn't care, they had expected it for some time now. Sasuke's suicide attempt had been a well-kept secret inside of Team 7, nobody wanted Sasuke to be sent away too. Naruto would be way too lonely without Sasuke there.

…

Even after death, when a dark cloud covers all that you know, there's still some light somewhere…You just have to know where to look.


End file.
